Thundering to conclusions
It was unusual for a flight academy cadet to complain about a fellow Wonderbolt-in-Training, but the mohawked Thunderlane arrived at Spitfire’s door. The guards were on their break, so the frapping upon the door caught the captain off guard. He still sported what would be the equivalent of a Wonderbolt jersey, but still stood strong against his superior.
After the quick knocks, he swiftly demanded, right hoof held at salute, “Permission to enter, ma’am.”
That’s the strong attitude we need, Spitfire thought in the brief moment before replying, We could use a few more guys around, especially so Soarin has someone other than me to talk sports to. Having that flash of memory to herself, she responded, “Come on in, Thunderlane, no guards this time.”
As the stallion opened the door with his left hoof, he still held his right in salute. Realizing it had overstayed its timeframe, he trotted on all fours over to the desk. He gazed around briefly, never had he been in the captain’s office, so vast of a space, yet so constricting. A large desk littered with photos waiting to be stomped with the regal hoof-signature of Spitfire herself. All those yellow pegasai even made the small space between chairs feel even closer than the desk would allow. To properly gather his thoughts, he felt it better to remain standing.
“I’m guessing you didn’t come in to say hi.”
Not one to scramble around the issue, he plunged into the reason, “I wanted to complain about the obstacle course.”
“Too hard?”
“No ma’am,” came the quick attempt to save his dignity.
“So why were Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash the only team to have finished? To me, that indicates the course was possible.”
“Nopony could have finished the course other than those two, it was impossible,” Thunderlane erupted, although he did manage to keep calm, “Rainbow made an attempt to reason with sanity, but I think you gave Lightning Dust a little too much credibility behind that lead pony status.”
But Spitfire rationalized it in a calmer light, “If you remember, Lightning Dust managed to surpass what Rainbow Dash could have done.”
“And managed to pass by us. With the same force no less!”
“Don’t mistake force for determination.”
“NO!” he snapped back, “No disrespect ma’am, but I didn’t think the Wonderbolts were all about pushing ourselves to the brink of doom, for ourselves nor others.”
Spitfire’s intention of twisting her chair around was to provide a dramatic reply, but became sidetracked from a picture hanging on the right side of the room just before the ceiling. The frame alone might not have indicated anything important, but for a fair minute, it held the focal point of the room. Thunderlane twisted his head to the side, trying to gather the picture’s importance. The mare in question had only one shade of orange for her mane, contrary to Spitfire’s varying orange shades. She wore the trademark goggles, though they would never reveal her eye color, which was howthey were typically designed. The trait that caught the charcoal colt with the most confusion was how much added weight she carried. Whoever the mare had been appeared to have an off-type physique, one he would not associate with the Wonderbolts. On the other side of the argument, she was in better shape than Pumping Iron, who had too much muscle. She, however, had the opposite problem, albeit at a minimal level.
Thunderlane noticed how the defiant captain seemed to be having a sentimental moment to herself. Despite not wanting to interrupt, he needed to return on some track of relevancy, “Um, was she a friend of yours?”
This brought Spitfire back to her senses, and snapped her chair back around. She had pushed out all the thoughts in her head, and completely forgot she had company in the room, “Well…she still is. It’s just that there’s a fairly large age range between us.”
“Ah,” he sighed in understanding, “an old mentor.”
“I suppose so,” Spitfire admitted, in a more meditated tone. She took a look back up at the framed photo, and asked to a blank wall, “I’d be willing to say you don’t know who Meadow Sky is.”
Pausing for a moment to concentrate on the implied question, Thunderlane responded, “I apologize, the name sounds familiar, but I’m not familiar with her work for the team.”
A heavy sigh of remembrance followed suit, and she went on, “You remember how we performed that night at the Grand Galloping Gala?”
“Wasn’t there, but I heard about it.”
“And how we were called in when the dragon came into town?”
That was only Spike, Thunderlane mumbled, but he figured giving a simple, “Yes,” would suffice for the explanation, “but I’ve always wondered why your duties vary like that.”
“That’s where Meadow Sky comes in. I’ll spare you the short story. Basically, she was the one who founded what was recognized as the first showcase division of our team. They got blended in over time, and she ended up retiring from those duties.”
“Never knew that.”
“Few do.”
Despite the sentimental segment, Thunderlane had to bring up the reason of intended visit, “So, Miss Spitfire, what does this mean about Lightning Dust?”
The response seemed to take much longer than the frame’s attention. Spitfire may have needed much more time to make a decision. Even so, she needed to express what she felt, “I’ll talk with the others about this. Even if Lightning Dust did do this, I’m gonna need more than your word against what she says.”
“Understood.”
“May as well take care of this later though. There’s the final test I need to introduce. After that, then I’ll begin the official inquiry.”
Although Thunderlane would let that happen he had to know one last detail, “What’s the last test?”
“Cloudbusting.”
“Figures I have the wingpony who’s never worked the clouds before.”
This gave Spitfire one last chance to sound calmly authoritative before the final task, “But I can tell you’re not the type of pony who’ll let that get in your way, am I wrong in that assumption?”
With a valiant salute, Thunderlane replied, “No, ma’am. I’ll do whatever I can – within reason – to clear the most clouds.”
Sadly, that was the easiest answer Spitfire would receive the entire day.
“Miss Spitfire, may I come in?”
Normally, Spitfire would have held out until welcoming procedure was cemented, but her mind was not in the right places. She had come off the horseshoes of having what was arguably the best candidate for the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash, quit after having dealt with her lead pony. In what seemed to be just ten seconds, the silver badge had been thrust onto the desk and had not been touched since. It lay barren, untouched by anything but the papers beneath, ironically the ones which would send Lightning Dust out. Perhaps she had been too harsh, Rainbow’s wing may not have been clipped off, but looking back, it was injured enough to impede flight skills. Would that have changed anything? Odds would say no, but Spitfire had to have some form of distraction from these thoughts, however minimal it would be.
“Sorry, Raindrops,” Spitfire spoke as she returned to her senses, “A little distracted lately,” and then motioned for the teal-maned pony to enter.
Entering the room at a moderate pace, she inquired, “Dashie on the mind?” careful to add a small smirk to incite some happiness.
Spitfire responded the only way that would have fit the situation, “She’s been on my list of potential Wonderbolts for a long while, and having her just walk out the door like that…I guess I just wonder if I should have made Rainbow the lead pony in the first place.”
“What you’ve done you’ve done,” reminded the weather pony, “maybe you can fix it, but I think you were well warranted to let her follow somepony.” Raindrops felt a need to clarify, however. She had never seen the blank expression that had crossed the captain’s façade, and not wanting to watch drying paint any longer, she added, “Granted, Lightning Dust wasn’t the best one, but Rainbow needed to be taught that she can’t lead all the time. It showed that she had the will to follow orders to superiors, so at least she won’t become to haughty of herself,” the last words trailing off in an addendum-optimistic tone, hoping that the final thought would make Spitfire hopeful again.
No luck, “Even if Rainbow followed orders, at least they should have come from a more composed mind.”
“The second reason,” the yellow pegasus motioned, “why she handled it well. Sure, she can pull off a sonic rainboom, but even someone as hard-driven as herself has limits she won’t go beyond.”
“I have to admit,” and Spitfire did, “that does seem to make Rainbow Dash even more qualified,” the thought, however, trailed to even more regret, “too bad she already made for the exit.”
“Not like she’s departing anytime soon.”
“What does that mean, cadet?”
After a distasteful sigh, she continued, “Rainbow brought stuff here, didn’t she? Even though she can clear the sky with speed herself, she’s not that fast in packing her belongings. I’d say half hour at best, even at this point.”
“Even so,” reminded the otherwise defiant captain, “Trying to kick out Lighting Dust is kind of pointless at this point. Don’t get me wrong, Thunderlane’s story checked out with Cloudchaser, who complained shortly after today’s second frisk of trouble.”
“Only mentioned the obstacle course, did she?”
“Regrettably so,” and with that, the dull flame sulked back into her chair. Hopeless to answer her inside inquiry, she relayed across the desk, “I still need to hear more about this tornado that Rainbow Dash mentioned.”
The weatherpony was ready to reply, but needed to know how, “Is there a certain aspect of it you’d want to know?”
Quick to the draw, Spitfire responded, “Rainbow said her friends were caught in the tornado….”
“Why bother questioning which ones, you know it’s the mane six.”
She gawked at how nonchalantly that card had been played, “The. Mane. Six.”
“You know, Elements of Harmony and all that.”
“Yea, yea, yeah, I get that,” Spitfire shoved aside, “but why were they even there in the first place.”
“Apparently, they were growing worried at the lack of time that Rainbow Dash had been away, so they thought about sending a letter. After that plan fell through, they felt a care package would be better. However, when they realized that it might take until after the academy was over, they figured visiting a friend would be the best they could do. Definitely didn’t expect a tornado before arriving, though, they usually hit the ground if done properly – never mind, pet peeve detail – anyway, we all had to grab at least one of the ponies, though it was somewhat funny seeing Pumping Iron save the small care package.”
The captain had to do a spit take at what had been presented, “That’s a fair amount to take in.”
“I caught Pinkie Pie; I had to tell you the abbreviated version. I couldn’t comprehend all that she said in her fifteen second thank you,” and half-jokingly, Raindrops stopped to catch her breath.”
Spitfire giggled at the mere mention of Pinkie. She remembered the Gala when she attempted to make the patrons dance the pony pokey. After managing to dance to the first half, Soarin finally caught sight, and Spitfire felt it best to stop in her tracks, any more dancing would have caused much more embarrassment than had already been established. Still, in her mind, Pinkie had been the one party animal of the night, “That crazy mare. How Rainbow’s handled her this long, I have no idea.”
“Me neither.”
Raindrops thought she decided Spitfire’s mind for her, but one lingering thought halted the progress, “I guess Lightning Dust needs to be reprimanded, but Rainbow Dash was also part of it…”
“And she led us in the waterspout which gave Cloudsdale its water supply for the last year.”
“What are you saying in that?” she asked with a skeptical eye.
“Safe to say you trusted her to lead us up to 900 wingpower. We would have had it easy had the flu not been as strong that week. I never understood why it had to be exactly that much wingpower, but she managed to motivate Fluttershy to increase her wingpower tenfold. Someone like Lightning would have taken the credit upon herself, but Rainbow had the modesty to state that every small bit helps. In part, it was my fault that it faltered the first time or two, though not because I wasn’t trained well,” and then she followed with a stronger voice behind her, “we spent many hours preparing for it over the weeks leading to that. She was more strict toward us, not reckless. There was no way she could have been to blame.”
“Any other reasons that would dictate that?”
“That in addition to Lightning Dust being the one launched aside when the tornado spun out of control.”
“That explains a fair amount,” Spitfire sighed.
“But does it explain enough?” she questioned in doubt.
The Wonderbolts leader finally moved the silver lightning crest to reveal the reports at hand, having them in hoof, they were consistent with what was stated, “You mind signing here?”
“Is this the witness account?”
“Somewhat,” and then presented a few pages of details in front of the cadet, “We’ve compiled the report as to what she’s done, we only need signatures to make sure that the info is accurate.” As Raindrops went through the papers, the information continued to flow, “We go by rules of three. Thunderlane and Cloudchaser have already signed off, but none of the other ponies would comply.”
“Is the testimony anonymous?”
“Of course, wouldn’t want rivalries to form in case the claims happen to come out false.”
“Maybe you should have mentioned that to them first,” Raindrops admitted as she plunged her hoof in the ink to fortify her signature on the testimony, “I’m willing to bet that’s part of the reason nopony came out, too fearful to what Lightning Dust may do next; never know,” and she ended with her words punctuated by the hoofmark of confirmation.
“Thank you, Raindrops,” Spitfire said, “made sure I didn’t act rash to it all.”
“No problem. You have been known to act with little preparation.”
Spitfire felt a need to correct the statement, “None of us knew that the large dragon was a greedy version of Twilight’s friend.”
“…and Rarity’s crush.”
“Come again?”
“Nevermind, something else Pinkie managed to say. Comparing it to today’s incident or something like that. Anyway, are we finished here?”
“You tell me,” Spitfire replied with the most certainty Raindrops heard in the time of conversation, “You’re the one who entered in the first place.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she saluted, and began to walk out before inquiring one last detail of the captain, “Hey, don’t you normally have guards at the entrance?”
It was only then that Spitfire realized what had occurred, the conversation that took place only consisted of those two. Her guards must have tried to eat a second lunch again, making some time to talk with Soarin, all the more reason to take Thunderlane when the chance comes, “Oh, boy. I’ve gotta go to the break room to get them back. May as well get Soarin to bring Lightning Dust into the office while I’m at it, but why don’t you head on to the mess hall? You’re cutting in on refueling time.” Raindrops saluted and then closed the door, both realizing that trouble having been ignited, somepony had to burn as a result, and it had to be to the one who struck first.
“You know, I kinda feel bad for what Rainbow had to go through,” Raindrops mentioned at the mess hall in the aftermath of Lightning Dust’s tornado fallout. The only talk at lunch that day centered upon those actions, and it seemed the overconfident pegasus of the day was the only one content with her actions.
“At least I know what you mean,” commented Thunderlane, “Lightning Dust causes the chaos, and Rainbow is the one who’s run from the academy.”
“Technically, she quit,” Cloudchaser interrupted, “Still, I would have thought that little storm would have some dignity in her. Granted, she couldn’t have known Dash’s friends would come to visit, but I would have owned up to it if I had been the culprit.”
Thunderlane agreed, “She’s been madness since the start.”
“But you can’t argue that she impressed us in the trials.”
“True, but clearly a selfish attitude shouldn’t be rewarded. I saw Rainbow’s bruised wing from the flag chasing exercise. If L.D. was really as fast as the dizzitron, then nopony could have caught her at normal speed.”
“That’s right,” interrupted the focused star, “and I just know the Wonderbolts will want me now.”
“Want you to leave,” mulled Raindrops.
“Huh?”
“You thought I said something?” she asked, “Nothing directed toward you.”
“Anyway, you saw those skills, right? Best skills this side of Cloudsdale…. You know what, in all of Cloudsdale.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t go as far as Equestria,” whispered Cloudchaser.
“Alright, now I know you’re all disowning me, what about?” Lightning Dust snapped.
Cloudchaser took the opportunity, “you know, that’s the type of two-dimensional foolishness that should have had you ousted from this academy.”
Lightning was taken aback, but to her, that only gave a notion of mock shock, “Really, now? I can’t believe you’re saying that my initiative is what made Rainbow quit the academy. Are you trying to say I can’t chase my dreams?”
“Your ‘initiative’ only initiated problems!” shot the mohawked stallion, “Think about how many ponies were harmed.”
“Oh, p-shah. You make it sound like somepony got hurt.”
“SOMEPONY DID!!! And somepony else….and somepony else…”
Although Thunderlane directed his gestures to the other members at the table, Raindrops cut him off before her companion carried on too long, “Point being, why do you feel being the most overpowering makes you the best?”
“The moment you shun somepony’s emotions in order to take control of your dream, let me know, then we can talk,” and with that, Lightning Dust trotted off to a lonely table across the mess hall to eat her lunch.
Thunderlane would not leave it at that. He stood up from his seat and stormed toward the solo table. Neither of the other mares dared stop him, despite Cloudchaser making a few steps toward the rageful pegasus. He went off on the solo diner, “Listen here! Maybe you know it, maybe you don’t, but Rainbow Dash is THE Element of Loyalty!”
“Yeah, yeah, Elements of Harmony and the such,” Lightning deadpanned, “Not very loyal of her though to quit on what was apparently her dream.”
The bolted mare took shock at a stomped hoof on the table with enough force to flip the daffodil sandwich and spill a smidgen of tomato soup, “Unlike you, at least she knows that living a dream shouldn’t mean any near-, close-, or actual death experiences.”
A sudden interruption forced the two to a standstill of words, “Well, well. Any reason for the skirmish?” Dressed in his full Wonderbolt attire, minus the goggles, Soarin caught hold of what was about to begin and took calm action to stop it.
Lightning saw the opportunity, “Glad you came here, Soarin, Thunderlane was about to clobber me for no good reason.”
“Clobber Rainbow Dash with your recklessness and I say that’s a good enough reason.” He by no means meant what he was saying, but his mind was too bent on cutting a piece especially for the pompous pilot.
Soarin heard of Lightning Dust’s attitude from Spitfire, not to mention the discord which resulted over the last few sessions, so anypony else would not have the blame put upon them, “Either way,” he intervened, “the captain would like to see you immediately, Lightning Dust. The events over the last few days have warranted the visit.”
“Be there in a bit,” and with Dust’s words, Soarin went back behind the entry doors. The tinted mare then snarked at Thunderlane, “you hear that? Spitfire wants to see me. Probably wants to promote me to the main squad.”
That’ll never happen, he thought rightfully to himself, they never promote anyone from the academy to the flight squad.
“Best be off now,” Lightning Dust cooed, despite not having taken a single bite of her lunch, “I can tell this is going to be a day for my memory book.”
“Hope so,” mumbled Thunderlane.
“Aw, thanks, I knew you’d come around,” and the Thunder was left to bite Lightning’s dust as she skipped out toward the captain’s quarters.
At this point, the other mares felt it was warranted to survey the emotional wreckage of the situation, “What did Soarin need Dust for?” asked Raindrops.
“Apparently, Spitfire wanted to see the charm of a rainy day.”
“What for?”
“With any luck,” Thunderlane pondered, “for clearing the skies.”
In the office, Spitfire was nearing the end of stamping her hoof-signature on the final photos, as she pondered the actions. Granted, Lightning Dust performed the strongest out of the group, but that didn’t mean the Cyan pegasus wasn’t as strong. If it had been any other session, Rainbow Dash would have been lead pony, no doubt. What Spitfire had planned was to see how Dash could handle second-rate, as Raindrops reminded her; both were fully aware not even the captain herself was immune to having to follow instead of leading the way. Disappointed to see what was, in her eyes, a top recruit who only left because of the torment, she faded into thoughts on the loyal pegasus, loyalty means nothing if there’s no passion behind it.
Spitfire narrowed her thoughts on how to sort it out before Rainbow dashed away, but how? Her stomps became less fortified as she pondered how to handle it. In a lull of thought, she realized the last signature barely touched the propaganda-style photo, Spitfire snapped back to the present, and stomped it back twice to create a more distinct mark than she had done.
Thankfully, she snapped out of it before the certain sea-green monster plowed her way in, “Hey, Spitfire. Doin’ well I presume?”
“Protocol, Lightning Dust!” Spitfire shot back.
Oblivious to the retort, Lightning Dust shrugged it off, “Oh come on, Spits, there’s no need to be formal with me.”
“But you need to be formal with her,” one of the door guards expanded.
“Huh?”
The other one was more blunt with his explanation, “You need to formally ask her to enter the office first.”
“It’s not like I have to ask her out or anything.”
“It’s how we do these things, Miss Dust,” continued the second guard, “Protocol or not, we’re the ones who enforce the law, not make it.”
Lightning Dust surrendered on any friendship attempts for the time being, “oh, fine. Permission to enter, Captain Spitfire.”
The captain herself was equally forward in her response, “Normally, talk like that would be trouble for you, but I’ve got other dilemmas to talk about before vocal retorts.” She then motioned toward the door, “Guard the outside if you two don’t mind, this is going to be a private conversation for now.”
As the guards departed their quarters, Lightning Dust waved farewell, but the guards weren’t as keen toward her, “Hey,” asked the first guard, “isn’t that the one Spitfire was…”
“Wait til we close the door,” whispered the second. As the action completed with a silent shut, he continued, “Remember of the stories of Lightning Strike’s dismissal from the Wonderbolts. That’s what got me this position, they fired the last one for giving the notice before the captain.”
“True. I just hope Spitfire can ease this situation on Strike’s daughter. That little bolt appears to have a similar fire to her.”
“Well, lightning is known to start fires, after all,” it was a small joke, but at least they could amuse themselves under the tense situations.
Lightning Dust intended to continue the notion of informality, “So what did you want to call me in for?”
“A bit of formal procedure,” she continued.
Again, Lightning cut off her superior, “Formalities again? I don’t think we need to go over stuff like that.”
Spitfire attempted to remain calm, but she began to grow tired of the antics being put forth, “We need to go over this. Tell me, Lightning Dust, what made you want to join the Wonderbolts in the first place?”
The opposing storm sounded rather diplomatic in her answer to this question, “Well, I wanted to fly among the best of the pegasai, seeing that I feel I would rise among the ranks.”
Spitfire knew such praise, whether upon a cadet or the Wonderbolts themselves, would not be as useful asker would prefer to believe. She thought about how to bring up the consequences of the actions which had taken place. On the written test for the academy, while Lightning Dust got one of the highest scores, she knew the test focused upon the history of the Wonderbolts and had only one perfect score. It wasn’t Dust, so Spitfire felt she could get away with how to raise the issue, “You mind if I ask you a few questions about the Wonderbolts?”
“Why?” she asked quizzically, “didn’t I already answer them on the written exam?”
“Trust me,” Spitfire proceeded, “you may need to understand a few things about us before I continue on my point.”
With a fortified hesitation to continue the childish hold on destiny, Lightning Dust seceded, “Alright, try me.”
An easy question started the vocal quiz, “Who held the academy record for dizzitron speed, among seven others, before Rainbow Dash broke three of them?” careful to add in the last segment, seeing how the test was taken before the physical portions.
“I see, give me an easy one to settle me in,” and Lightning Dust grew evermore confident, “Firefly had the record 24 Before Luna, 976 of the Celestial Rule if you prefer.”
“Fair disclaimer,” admitted the calm flame, “any idea how long ago I became captain?
“Ten years. Come on, Spits, you can do better?”
Having heard that, Spitfire knew she could skip to the question to focus the rest of the conversation, “Alright,” and then followed up by turning her chair half way around, pointing up at a picture of a regal-standing member of the squad, the picture was only faded by twenty-five or thirty years, but the resulting color fade made the photo all the more important. With a swift point of her left hoof, Spitfire asked “Any idea who this member is?”
Lightning Dust heard the question, but grew a true shade of shock at the question. She attempted to catch Spitfire’s bluff, “hehe, this wasn’t on the test.”
But she wouldn’t fall for the balk, “I never said any of the questions would be on the test, you were able to answer the last question well?”
“But every fan of the squad knows the captains.”
“And every true fan knows every facet of the squad.”
Spitfire threw it right down the middle, and Lightning Dust saw strike three rush by, but she would at least hazard a guess, “uh…Posey?”
“Not a bad guess,” which was more of the traditional way of expressing, I appreciate the attempt, but you got it wrong. Moving forward with the solo lecture, Spitfire gave the answer, “The pony right there goes by the name of Meadow Sky.”
“Meadow Sky?” inquired Dust with a hint of disgust, “She was never in the Wonderbolts!”
“Thus we come to one of the questions you missed on the test, how many divisions are there in the Wonderbolts?”
“How can it be anything more than one?” demanded the quizzed.
“That explains why you got it wrong, there’s more than one division of the Wonderbolts.”
“More than one?!”
“It’s only two, now if you’ll calm down,” the collective yellow pegasus soothed, “I’ll give you the reasons why that is the case.”
Without a word, she took a seat in front of the desk, realizing for once in all the academy training, she may have gone a step too far. After a few moments to take in the silence, Lightning Dust spoke just a few words, “So… Meadow Sky, huh?”
“That’s right, it was about thirty-five years ago, having completed the Wonderbolts Academy, Meadow Sky sent her application to become an official member of the team. They rejected her because she lacked the speed and agility of a member we traditionally seek out.”
“Then why have you not hired me?” interrupted Lightning Dust, “it appears that I would have the skills.”
Frustrated at the unintended intermission, Spitfire injected some dry humor, “I’m surprised you haven’t asked why she’s up there if she was so horrible.”
The sense to pick up that humor was equally dry, “Thanks for asking that for me.”
Resisting the urge to conk herself upside the head, the story continued, “Normally, rejected candidates will just send in another application, you know, make sure their name stays in our system one way or another. Every now and again, we’ll get a letter or two asking for a specific reason why they got rejected. An earth pony had the nerve to write a swear-filled rant about how he was being discriminated against because of his species. I tried telling him that it was a team of pegasai, but I ended up just telling him ‘if you ever grow wings, come by and then we’ll discuss this topic again’. He didn’t even take the academy first, just sent it in one day, and expected to make the team. Don’t worry, just a personal experience of the current time. Anyway, the captain at the time received a letter of similar content, but Meadow Sky sent in a letter of a different demeanor.
“It mentioned how she knew the Wonderbolts had been a rigorous group, and knew her finesse would not be good for the traditional division, but she proposed a new division. Pointing to our lack of publicity and public appearances, she suggested a stunt team to show off the Wonderbolts’ style. They brought her in and made her show some of the planned stunts. I’ve heard it praised many ways, but I tend to like ‘heavenly majestic’ the best. She performed the basic tricks at basic speeds, but she put a mesmerizing spin on it, and she was given control of that fresh section; she was given a month to prepare, and that five-pony team held what was arguably the best non-combat flight scheme in the academy’s history. It became more competitive after that day, and eventually, the talent would overlap between the two divisions, only making it seem they are one team, but Meadow Sky still held her ground as its captain of that division until she retired the year before Luna’s return.
“Yeah, some of us pull double-duty, especially since there’s still little doom that either Princess is willing to put us through, and it can grow tiresome at times. My point in that is how Meadow Sky was important to the team’s history.”
More than likely, Lightning Dust misinterpreted the message, “If you think I’m gonna join the finesse team, fat chance. I want to join the skill and danger.”
“You missed what I was trying to tell you!” Spitfire raged, taking the chance to rise from her chair to accompany her tone, “Danger is NOT the major factor of the Wonderbolts! Join the military if you want to injure somepony without consequences, but here, we play safe with every individual!”
“Hey!” Lightning defended, “everypony was safe.”
“You call ‘safe’ having your wingpony’s wing clipped and injured? You call ‘safe’ causing the crash of the competitors into the clouds? You call ‘safe’ a tornado which launched the Elements of Harmony toward the ground?”
“Well, I doubt you even knew they would be coming to visit-”
“‘Prepare for anything’ the axiom goes,” reminded Spitfire, “I had to check tornado protocol, and basic cloudbusting, our skillset, was not on the list of approved uses. Two of those balloon riders were earth ponies, and the other Pegasus might as well have been included as another. What would have happened if Rainbow was a reckless as you? They would have been-”
“No need, no need, I get it!” Lightning Dust broke down in anger, this time directed only at herself, “I get it. I should have been more cautious to those ponies around me,” it took her a while to muster up the next sentence, “It’s just … I remembered when, during an interview last year, you said that you need to be forward thinking, and to not think about others.”
In the tears of the cadet, Spitfire stood silent to collect her following statement as swiftly as she could. After forming those thoughts, the captain sought to calm her down, “Look, I’m not perfect myself. Did you catch anything after that?” Once Lightning Dust shook her head, Spitfire knew she could continue, “I misspoke. The media hammered me for days after that, saying how I had grown the personality of…I guess it may be more relevant to say you. I went straight to Equestria Nightly to clarify what I meant. When I said you ‘shoulnd’t think about others’, I meant that you shouldn’t think about what they have to say.”
It grew clear to Lightning as she began to clear away her tears, “that’s why Rainbow Dash left, because she knew listening to someone who was pushing them too far would have gone against your beliefs.”
“As long as you feel that’s the case,” even the leader knew it was an appropriate time to joke around. At least now she could earn a smile from the counterpart.
“I’ve got to stop taking on my dad’s personality, that’s gotten me into trouble too many times,” Lightning Dust admitted.
“‘Struck’ us all with his fiery attitude, that little bolt.”
The aquamarine mare couldn’t help but giggle at the pun on his name; from the name, Lightning Strike, and the organization itself. “Listen,” Dust motioned, “I might as well apologize for…”
“Hey, remember who you’re talking to,” Spitfire commented, “The one who had to deal with an earth pony’s rage. I may not be familiar with their anger, but I've seen a pegasus or two with similar frustration. At least I knew where he was coming from.”
Although Lightning felt the talk was more likely given to calm her down, there was a sense of pride that fluttered back to her, “Spitfire, if there’s anything I can do before I depart, let me know.”
It came too abrupt for comprehension at first, “We’re going to give Rainbow Dash your lead pony badge.”
“Fine by me.”
She was about to place the golden clouded bolt on the desk, but Spitfire held out her hoof to hold back the blank gesture, “I said we are going to do it. Leave it on the uniform; I’ll need it when we confront her about your actions.”
“Why couldn’t I just hand it to you? Wouldn’t it be easier?” the words weren’t given in frustration, the once determined soul would now witness her pride being shot execution style. While she accepted her fate, she still felt disappointed at how it had to happen.
A head swish followed suit, “As credible as it could be to just give the badge, it would be of no use too just hand it to Rainbow Dash. In theory, I could have given her a new one instead.”
Lightning Dust understood, “I follow, ma’am. Shall we get going?”
“Might as well,” replied Spitfire as she rose from the desk, “we should get going if we want to catch Rainbow before she leaves, I wanted to talk to her before she left my office, but she had already been in that stubborn frame of mind and closed the door before I could get to her.”
“Then, why’d you wait this long?”
“Do you seriously think she came here with nothing? A little gross if you ask me. I’d prefer a cadet who at least brushes their teeth.”
Lightning Dust was enjoying the time with Spitfire; it was a mutual agreement of departure as opposed to a straight-up firing of her previous generation. She could only muster two words, meek in tone, but strong in meaning, “Thanks, Spitfire.”
“Don’t sweat it, kid,” breaking her formal tone for the first time in the conversation, “I think since us pegasai are up in the clouds so often, we’ve kind of developed airheads of our own.”
“Some denser than others,” and Lightning Dust had finally made a joke she knew Spitfire had no choice but to give an audible snort at, oh, how it was so relatable to both sides.
“True that,” and with that, she opened the door and began to walk into the hallway. She could see her companion’s head drooped down, with her downward ears emphasizing the action, “Dust,” she called out, perking up the ears, and slightly the head as well, “you understand you can take the academy training again at a later date, right.”
Shocked to new levels, all Lightning Dust could do was shake her head from side to side once more.
“May want to wait a year, though. Aside from the fact that’s your probation period from the academy, I see potential. My only suggestion is that, and this is rare advice, you may want to dim down your training. You saw what over preparing did for you.”
“Yes ma’am,” she saluted.
“Alright then. Now let’s get going, you have some dignity that you need to surrender.”
With that, Lightning Dust nodded and took one last look at the badge on her chest. In just a few moments, it would be torn from her uniform. What she had worked for the longest time on would disappear right within her forced view, but at least some pride, she felt, could be redeemed. While she would be stripped of her status, she heard from Spitfire herself that a return would be possible in the long run. For now, however, she had to face the firing squad of dignity. There would be no deaths from the shots, but the recovery would result in a longer timeline of pain. To follow, she hoped it would all lead to an infinitely longer period of serenity. It might require attending another academy session, but she knew Lightning Dust would appear in the program of a future show if she worked hard enough – or rather, soft enough – to reach the goal.
